The hotel I am in is pretty cool. Like an island of tranquility complete with apple trees...full of apples, and some kind of huge shrub with purple flowers. Made for a great sleep...again....did the pool of drool thing. A good sign...I suspect. So hopped outta the sack....did the usual and was good to go again in about 20 mins...showered and packed the works. Only problem is the weather. As I was loading up drops of rain were hitting me....but it was broken skys...so not sure what to wear...also its kinda warm out for the time of morning.  

Decided to find a cafe for breaky and would decide then what to wear. As always found a cool cafe nearby...eggs benny auzzie style...not bad, and hit the spot. I also looked at me map to figure out where I was going. Right...back to the big city..this time Melbourne.....via the Ocean highway. So now I am about as far south as I can get in Auzzie land. Stopped at the beach and walked in the sand for a bit and found a cool rock...so put it in me pocket. The wind was blowing pretty good....so didn't linger to get a mouth full of sand....and off I went to ride what is suppose to be a great ocean hugging road.

So the road was great with views galour...but...it was wet and dry....I have to say....wet here is not a good thing. To add to the angst I am finding a few caravan road clots and need to pass em. Well was doing that (nothing too crazy) and sure enough in the corner the ole back end slipped out and then caught (friggin Metzlers)....enough for a hard tank slapper...inside foot popped off the peg and it uprighted me and I lost me line in the corner..just as a car came round the bend. Must say this is where the years of riding experience kicked in. Managed to lean it back in with a foot dragging.....in the end a thrilling corner....suspect the driver of the car might have crapped his pants. So did a few tests and just a litle throttle and the back end would loosen up...tricky part was trying to figure out where it was wet and where it was dry...shadows played havoc. ASC was no help as it stopped what already happened. When you don't trust your tires....you gotta take it easy....which is what I ended up doing.

The whole ocean ride was spectacular....everywhere was a view. After going a round a cool 180 sweeper where a helicopter was taking off beside the road I popped out in a small town where the GPS wanted to take me to a place called Teddy's lookout. No signage....did a trip through the town and ended up on this steep goat path that the tires barely had enough traction to climb...but made it to the top and what a reward that was. This lookout was set up that viewed the road I just came on from above....tres cool. No one there at all....so popped a bottle of lemon lime and bitters...and just chilled with a million dollar view. So I took a bunch of pics and felt it was time to go. Must be a sixth sense cuz just as I hopped on the bike....about 50 school kids and an instructor showed up......awesome timing....I sparked up....with a twist of the wrist was outta there. I am getting good at riding goat paths on an RT....

The road followed the ocean for a lil bit then it turned north inland...towards Melbourne and basically beecame the M1....freeway. Borrrrring.....cept....winds from hell.....I got pushed into the next lane a couple of times and it was exhausting fighting it. After about a couple of hours of that I rolled into Melbourne.....and a cool bridge over the harbour. The wind was blocked by buildings now so wasn't too bad....seems me hotel is right downtown....and traffic is crazy....but did okay filtering. The roads are pretty narrow and after about 30 mins....found me hotel..right in the middle of downtown. Parked on the sidewalk...and unloaded. It was still pretty early...so decided to do a quick rinse off....and check out our Melbourne office (Solar has a couple of offices in Auzzie land).  

Naving out of downtown to the office was easier than going in....except they have trams...and at one intersection I had to make a right turn....and there was a sign...right turn from the left lane only..WTF.....so I was stopped and bewildered when a tram pulled up and stopped. The engineer shouted out to give me some direction on how to do it....I think I got it but in the end...I think I ran a red light...oops......if there was a camera...I just pointed to me canadian sticker on the back.....might help. No one honked at least no fingers either. The office was about 35 km away via freeway and I just followed a couple of local bikers and figured out the aussiee way to weave traffic. Made the ride fun...and in a bit I was at the office. I hooked up with Brett (was the FSS here)...and he toured me aound the facility...very nice. Chatted for a bit and thought I best get going. Kinda cool...but I forgot to hit em up for a company shirt.

Went back to the hotel...oh and now its hot out by the way...as I got into Melbourne it was 35 on the gauge. Decide time to dump the bike and go for a walk. Was nice to get rid of the gear...and put some shorts on for a walkabout. I wandered all over ended up in the asian district I think...shops everywhere. Noodle houses everywhere..and people....everywhere....So this what a bustling downtown looks like LOL. Edmonton needs lesson..and warmer weather I suspect to match it. I found a cool restaurant for another aussie steak and another delicious one at that. It was in a mall....that had the strangest thing in it. In the middle of the mall was a brick building from a while ago....and it had a tower...I think at least 10 stories tall.....they built the mall around it it seems. A big dome.......very bizzare......so I wandered off and ended up in a cafe near the hotel. Street performers are everywhere and a really good one was in front she was singing away and others would join her. So I just sat having a dring when one of the local vagabonds approached.  

This guy was making all the signs of he wanted a cigarette. I apologised to him and said sorry I don't smoke.....he gave me a look and showed me the hand and turned his back with a look of disgust.....I was taken aback...he walked a few feet turned around....and I dunno....it just struck me as being very douche baggy...so I gave him a peice of me mind.     I felt better....I will give to a down and outer no problem but frig....what kinda thing is this. If you don' smoke they can dis you. The guy left still copping some attitude but I felt better at no point did I stand up but all of a sudden I was surounded by staff from the cafe. They were asking if I was okay...they were apologising all over the place and told me they have problems with aggressive pan handlers all the time and to watch me bag. No worries I told em all was cool. So watched the entertainment for a while...chilled and decide time to crash. Was a pretty good day...tomorrow...to the Lakes enterance...no idea what that means.